Watching

Gerhard Steidl is one of the most respected photo book publishers of the last 20 years. Watch him work with famous photographers on their photo books. Subtle but fascinating. [Amazon | Netflix]

The wacky world of artist Wayne White. Troy's review got me to watch this one - "he's bitter and says fuck a lot." [Amazon | Netflix]

Reading

Lisa Kereszi's grandfather was a boxer turned junkyard owner in the 1950's in Pennsylvania. Joe's Junk Yard mixes historic photos with Kereszi's images, and also includes her grandfather's scrapbook pages. These elements come together to form a deep, multi-generational narrative of a family's struggles. You've never looked at a junkyard this way before. Highly recommended.

Black Maps: American Landscape and the Apocalyptic Sublime is a masterpiece of modern landscape photography. Absolutely astonishing. Over 100 aerial photos that explore open pit mines, clear cut forests, and human sprawl. If Google Earth was 1000 times sharper and more interesting and somehow turned into a painting that was a cross between Diebenkorn and Rothko, that's what you'd get. This will most likely be my photo book of the year. Get this while it's $55.

The graphic novel Blacklung is not for the squeamish. A teacher is shanghaied aboard a pirate ship, and much violence ensues. Dark and intense, Blacklung has haunted me for days.

Listening

I'm really impressed by Weightless, the second album from Animals As Leaders. AAL is an instrumental prog rock power trio with a strong jazz sensibility, but also with some heavy, almost Meshuggah-like grooves. Tosin Abasi is a really amazing guitar player without being a noodly show off. Heard this on Pandora.

Doing

I'm working on a few photography projects. I've been spending considerably less energy on the presentation layer of photography lately. I'm enjoying shooting more, and not worrying about the constant cycle of dribbling out images on social media. When the time is right, I'll turn on the presentation layer again. Although it seems like the less I look at a computer screen, the more I'm smiling.